Oh, Canada

KAVU athlete Jeff Shapiro, heads north with Cody Tuttle and Jess Roskelley. Turns out, adventure is easy to find in Canada. Photos: Cody Tuttle

By KAVU

March 20^th, 2018

Northbound

Last November, I received a call from my good friend Cody Tuttle. After our usual talk about family, flying, and adventures in the mix, he mentioned a trip to Canada that he and Jess Roskelley had planned in February to climb ice and gather images.

"You wanna go"?

I think my answer might have involved some expletives but in general, "yes" was the only and obvious response;-)

Many who follow the #kavuadventure posts know Cody.

He's an adventurous soul who currently lives in the beautiful Owens Valley with his partner Cherise Tuttle, to chase the mega-thermals and epic paragliding that can be found there. He's also a film maker, pro photographer and most importantly for Jess and I....

our good friend!

Jess Roskelley is not just one of the best in the business of alpinism, but is one of the funniest dudes I've met in a long time. His skills on rock and ice make him a solid partner but, it's his attitude, calm competency, and propensity to make everyone laugh, even in the most harsh conditions that makes him a guy I feel lucky to climb with.

The three of us met at Jess's place in Spokane, Washington and after some much needed coffee, headed north toward the Canadian Icefields Parkway.

conditions dependent

Unfortunately, the avalanche conditions proved to be far too hazardous to attempt a few of the alpine ideas we had come up with when first talking about this trip. Luckily, there is an unbelievable amount of ice to climb in the areas surrounding Banff and Lake Louise so, we had no shortage of alternatives.

We started off on the massive, roadside giant "The Weeping Wall" and although temps varied from below Zero Fahrenheit to close to 40 degrees, we laughed our way up and even shared the route with two friends, Marc-Andre LeClerc and Brette Harrington, who unexpectedly showed up for the same adventure that day! It was a "small world" moment I'll forever be grateful for. Their smiles and genuine love for being in the mountains was contagious and even though that was the first time I had the opportunity to share time with Marc-Andre, it was obvious why he was universally respected and loved.

cragging

The next morning, we took a late start as a sign to visit the box-like canyon of Haffner Creek to try out the Ice Comp IP GTX...... designed by LOWA. The canyon has super fun mixed rock and ice routes to climb and we spent a casual day sampling whichever lines seemed inspiring.

It was a day that once again proved that it's not what I do, as much as who I'm with, that makes a day in the mountains!

Bull River

Our trip was all too short so, with only a couple of days before Cody's flight back to California, we headed back south toward Spokane. Luckily, Jess's knowledge of the area had us making a stop outside of Cranbrook, BC in a tight canyon with turquoise water and ice seeping out of the walls on both sides!

The routes in the Bull River Canyon were some of the most unique and beautiful I'd seen and climbing ice over that water left mental impressions that will last me my life time. Jess and I got to climb steep pillars and again, mixed rock and ice routes in a setting that had us totally satiated. It was a perfect way to end the trip!

memories

When we arrived back at Jess's place in Spokane, I packed up the Sprinter to head back to Montana and Cody got ready to fly home to California. The three of us would head out on new adventures in the weeks to come but, all agreed that there were more trips to be had in the future.